Spring is almost here despite what the now weekly Nor’easter storms of the East Coast might say an with this approach come an ever more steady run of touring announcements. This next one gives us the low down on the pairing of two very popular bands with Five Finger Death Punch and Breaking Benjamin. Check out the full press release along with the poster and run of dates. I’ll close out with additional thoughts at the end. Let’s go.

The Press Release:
Today, multi-platinum hard rock band, Five Finger Death Punch, have announced that they will be releasing their highly anticipated seventh full-length studio album, And Justice For None, on May 18. The long-awaited collection is available for physical pre-order today in the following formats: Standard physical CD (13 tracks), Deluxe physical CD (13 tracks + 3 bonus tracks + Cover artwork), Vinyl (13 tracks + 3 bonus tracks + Deluxe gatefold artwork). The band is also offering fans a variety of new CD/merchandise bundles. The digital album pre-order for And Justice For None will launch on April 6th. Fans who pre-order the new album will also receive an exclusive ticket pre-sale code for Five Finger Death Punch’s just announced 32-date North American summer co-headlining amphitheater tour with Breaking Benjamin.

Five Finger Death Punch are thrilled to be hitting the road for a massive series of co-headlining North American dates with Breaking Benjamin this summer. As special guests, they will bring along two of the most exciting new rock acts in the world: 3X GRAMMY Award-nominees Nothing More and Bad Wolves who are currently dominating the #1 spots on the mainstream, Rock and Metal charts in multiple countries around the world with their cover version of The Cranberries’ “Zombie”. The video for “Zombie” has garnered more than 15 million views in 2 weeks. The track has reached 3.2m streams and hit #3 on Spotify’s Viral Global Top 50, as well as #4 on Spotify’s Viral US Top 50. “Zombie” will appear on the band’s debut album Disobey, due out May 18. Rolling Stone described the song, “Bad Wolves’ interpretation of “Zombie” is moody like the Cranberries’, though the instrumentation sounds clearer and more cutting.”
The summer amphitheater tour, co-produced by Live Nation and Frank Productions, kicks off on July 16, 2018 in Seattle, WA and will make stops in 32 North American cities. Last week, select dates were announced via Live Nation’s Ticket To Rock program. Today, all dates are now available and VIP presale begins today at 12:00 PM EST. Fan Club members have access to the presale tomorrow, March 14 at 10:00 AM EST. Tickets will go on-sale to the general public beginning Friday, March 16 at 10:00 AM at LiveNation.com. Watch a world premiere sneak peek of music from the new 5FDP album in this exclusive tour trailer here. For tickets to the biggest can’t-be-missed rock event of the summer, VIP offerings and more info on the tour go here.

”When I’m asked for a tour quote I’m always scratching my head… Is there anything to add?” says Five Finger Death Punch guitarist, Zoltan Bathory. “We are putting together 2018’s biggest Hard Rock tour of the Summer; where even the first band on the bill has a massive hit single around the world. There will be fire, there will be lights and it’s going to be loud. An experience you can’t just download, you have to be there. We all get about 80 summers in our lifetimes, so make them count.”

“This is the type of tour package that is all too rare nowadays,” adds Larry Frank, Owner Frank Productions/Live Nation. “Five Finger Death Punch, Breaking Benjamin, Nothing More, and Bad Wolves is the kind of tour that keeps music alive and exciting and at the same time introduces the audience to newer bands that will become the next generation of arena rock acts.”

Fans purchasing a ticket to the tour will also support a good cause. The co-headliners will donate $0.50 from each ticket sold to two charity organizations close to their hearts. Five Finger Death Punch has chosen C.O.P.S – Concerns Of Police Survivors, an organization whose mission is rebuilding shattered lives of survivors and co-workers affected by line of duty deaths, through partnerships with law enforcement and the community. Breaking Benjamin has chosen Prevent Child Abuse America to help counteract the abuse and neglect of our nation’s children by promoting services that improve child well-being and developing programs that help to prevent all types of abuse and neglect.

The current singles of Five Finger Death Punch (“Gone Away”, #6), Breaking Benjamin (“Red Cold River”, #4) and Nothing More (“Do You Really Want it?”, #7) have all entered the U.S. Top Ten Rock Chart with Bad Wolves closely following on their heels with “Zombie” at #14.

Five Finger Death Punch’s current single, “Gone Away” (their own rendition of The Offspring’s 1997 hit single) has received over 7 million streams since its debut, over 15 million video views on YouTube and topped the iTunes rock and metal charts globally. The song continues to climb up the rock charts and is already at #6 this week. Check out the official video for “Gone Away” and the lyric video.

About Five Finger Death Punch: Confidently leading heavy music in the 21st century, Five Finger Death Punch continue to make the impossible a reality at every turn. Since their emergence in 2007, the hard rock band has achieved six consecutive RIAA Gold-certified albums, three of which have gone Platinum since, as well as a Platinum single culminating in their 2015 #1 album GOT YOUR SIX, while at the same time being one of the top rock streaming acts with over 2 billion global streams to date. In 2016, the band also received the prestigious “Soldier Appreciation Award” from The Association of The United States Army. 5FDP frequently play all major festivals globally from Download to Rock Am Ring to Rock on the Range and sell out arenas around the world to countless screaming “Knuckleheads.” Their 2017 Greatest Hits album A DECADE OF DESTRUCTION boasts two new singles, amongst them “Gone Away”, a cover of the 1997 song by The Offspring which is currently storming the rock charts. 5fdp’s forthcoming seventh full length album, AND JUSTICE FOR NONE, to be released on May 18, 2018 will undoubtedly raise the bar again. The band will emerge on the biggest North American amphitheater rock tour of 2018 from July through September.

About Breaking Benjamin: Multi-platinum band Breaking Benjamin has amassed a sizeable and diehard fan base, both through their chart-topping music, as well as their electrifying live performances. Their latest single, Red Cold River from their next studio album “Ember” out this Spring, has already reached 5.5MM+ streams and currently sits at #4 on Active Rock – steadily climbing to the #1 spot. Their previous album, Dark Before Dawn certified GOLD (selling over 500K copies) debuted #1 on Billboard’s Top 200 chart and spun off two #1 rock tracks, “Failure” and “Angels Fall.” “Failure” was also named the most played song at Active Rock for 2015. 2009’s Dear Agony, certified PLATINUM (selling over 1MM copies) debuted #4 on the Billboard Top 200 and #1 on the iTunes Rock Album Chart. Dear Agony also spun off the platinum selling and #1 Active Rock single “I Will Not Bow” where it stayed #1 for five weeks straight. Their discography also includes 2002’s Saturate (certified GOLD), 2004’s We Are Not Alone (certified PLATINUM) 2006’s Phobia (certified PLATINUM.) We Are Not Alonespawned a pair of #1 radio hits (“So Cold” and “Sooner Or Later.”) Phobia debuted at # 2 on Billboard’s Top 200, hit #1 on the Rock Album Chart and was one of the top 50 selling rock albums of 2006. It featured one #1 and two Top 5 rock radio hits (“Breath,” “Diary of Jane” and “Until The End”.)

About Nothing More: Nothing More’s The Stories We Tell Ourselves (out now on Better Noise Records) met with breakout success in 2017,debuting at #15 on Billboard’s Top-200 Album Chart. Further week-of-release debut highlights included: #2 Billboard Independent Album Debut, #3 Billboard Rock Album Debut, #3 Billboard Alternative Album Debut, and more. Nothing More entered 2018’s 60th Annual Grammy Awards® as first-time nominees and the most-nominated act in rock for The Stories We Tell Ourselves and #1 hit single “Go To War”. The group is now poised for global mainstream success with the upcoming single “Just Say When (version 2.0)” and continued global touring.

About Bad Wolves: Consisting of vocalist Tommy Vext (ex-Divine Heresy), drummer John Boecklin (ex-DevilDriver), guitarist Doc Coyle(Vagus Nerve, ex-God Forbid), guitarist Chris Cain (Bury Your Dead), and bassist Kyle Konkiel(ex-In This Moment), BAD WOLVES burst onto the scene in 2017 with the self-released debut single “Learn To Live” and quickly became ones-to-watch. The Los Angeles-based five-piece recently signed to Eleven Seven Music and will release a debut album later this year. The upcoming album will feature “Toast To The Ghost” and a cover of The Cranberries’ seminal single’ “Zombie”, released in honor of Dolores O’Riordan, who was scheduled to record guest vocals on the song the day she passed away. “Zombie” went viral globally, garnering the attention of Howard Stern at radio and mainstream media across the world and racking up millions of views across platforms with the official video amassing 5 Million YouTube views in just two weeks. The track currently sits atop rock and metal charts around the world. All proceeds from the track will go to Dolores O’Riordan’s three children.

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PiercingMetal Thoughts: Now this is some powerful touring combination and I’m speaking mostly about having caught FFDP in concert numerous times over the years and always finding myself blown away by their presentation. Breaking Benjamin is a band that I have heard quite a bit about but never found myself getting to one of their tours and when it comes to Nothing More all I can say that they are extraordinary to behold. Bad Wolves is the new band on the block and everyone is raving about their cover of The Cranberries classic “Zombie”. It was done in honor of the passing of Dolores O’Riordan and we loved it and shared thoughts on it that you can read HERE. I’m going to do my best to be at one or two of these shows if I can work it out because its such a powerful lineup that I might want to go twice. What do you think about this one? Let me know down in the comments section below.